Sex and relationships after focal therapy
Whatever your age, we know that having sex is an important part of many peoples’ relationships, and that the prospect of losing this due to impotence can be distressing. Although you are having the treatment, any kind of procedure can affect your partner and friends. We advise all our potential patients to discuss their options with someone they trust.
Impotence
Because focal therapy only removes the tumour from your prostate gland, it’s much less likely that the nerves that control how you get and maintain erections will be damaged.
Data we’ve collected at The Focal Therapy Clinic indicates that for 97% of the men we’ve treated, they are able to get and maintain erections normally, or with the help of pills or other medication. Research from Prostate UK shows that 76% of men who receive whole gland treatment for prostate cancer experience erectile dysfunction.
If this is something that is important to you, focal therapy could be an option.
Fertility
Traditional treatments for prostate cancer make starting or continuing a family afterwards very unlikely. Once your entire prostate gland is removed, you can’t produce semen anymore. If you have radiotherapy or brachytherapy, the radiation can temporarily stop you being able to produce sperm, and permanently reduce the amount of fluid you produce when you ejaculate. This makes falling pregnant more difficult.
After focal therapy, you’ll still be able to produce sperm and semen, although you may find you produce less than you did before. We are delighted that some of our patients have gone on to have children after treatment. If you’d like to find out how focal therapy could help you, book your consultation today.
“the man having the radical prostatectomy historically will have some discussion about [the] impact on your sex life…that can be quite shocking for the patient to hear and nothing else is discussed.”
Lorraine Grover
Psychosexual Nurse Specialist
Any questions?
If you’ve got any questions about your prostate cancer diagnosis or want to know more about HIFU or NanoKnife, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly, knowledgeable team.
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